This is several years old, as Peter noted, but I wonder what the reaction to Gould is now, in light of the recent publication in PLoS Biology demonstrating that in his Mismeasure of Man, Gould manipulated the data until he got the result he wanted. http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001071 Essentially, he made it up. In the process, he has deliberately deceived thousands or millions of readers, he has tarnished the reputation of a scientist (Morton) and stymied significant research (in sociobiology, for example). Why did he do this? What was his personal agenda? And why are people who should know better defending him here?